Shropshire impresses national judges in battle for UK enterprise crown

Shropshire proved why it was voted the most enterprising place in the West Midlands yesterday when it put on a ‘home entrepreneur’ display for Enterprising Britain judge Sue Brownson.

The current Managing Director of Blue Bell BMW received a guided tour of the latest Enterprise HQ in Coalport, Ironbridge and met a wide range of starts-ups and young businesses who are using the facilities and networking opportunities to grow their firms and create jobs.

She heard how the growth in home-working has helped the County shrug off the downturn and report increases in new starts and economic activity before visiting young entrepreneurs from Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) in the Millionaire’s Training Room and talking to companies – ranging from technology specialists to a young promotional marketing expert – on how they make the most of the facilities.

It was a real team effort with more creative entrepreneurs assisted by Enterprise HQ providing photographic services on the day (Derek Houghton Images), luxury car transport (First Class Cars) and a special ‘local produce inspired’ judges lunch by Fine Foods of Wem.

Fay Easton, who has been the driving force behind the project, was delighted by how the day went:

“We called this the ‘People’s Bid’ and this is exactly what we delivered, with more than 30 local entrepreneurs and businesses coming together to showcase exactly what enterprise means to them and the area.

“There were young directors, older directors, established companies, those serving manufacturing, others in more niche markets – it really was a diverse and fitting collection of people to promote all that is good about Enterprise HQ and how the benefits of home

working can be suitable for key client groups, such as women, graduates and people who are trying to move out of unemployment.”

She continued: “I think we definitely gave an impression of the impact we have had on the local economy and how the County can be used as a UK and European example of best practice in supporting ‘home’ entrepreneurs.”

Shropshire was crowned by Advantage West Midlands in June 2009 as the most Enterprising place in the region as part of Enterprising Britain, a nationwide competition run by Enterprise Insight on behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Now in its fifth year, the competition celebrates and rewards the most enterprising areas in the UK; those places of enterprise excellence that have helped transform the social and economic fortunes of their area.

It is now up to an expert panel of national judges, who will be visiting the projects, to decide which one best deserves the accolade of most enterprising place in the UK.

Sue Brownson OBE, who is the only female BMW dealer in the UK and responsible for a £102m turnover business, picked up the story:

“I am hugely impressed at what is being achieved in Shropshire and how the two Enterprise HQ facilities are helping to galvanise a whole new generation of entrepreneur.

“The facilities are extremely impressive, but the real success story is the people and they are genuinely delighted to have the opportunity to take advantage of this specialist support in helping them turn dreams and ideas into reality.

“What also struck me from the visit was the way the members of Enterprise HQ are keen to inter-trade and share knowledge and experience – that is what a real enterprise culture is really about.”

The state-of-the-art Enterprise HQs provide a vital connector for entrepreneurs by offering virtual office services, meeting space, the latest technology, work pods, external business support and networking opportunities.

In the last two years, the project has attracted 500 members, helped to create 86 businesses and leveraged in over £1m of private sector funding.

The national Enterprising Britain winner will be announced at an awards ceremony this October. The winner will then go forward to represent the UK in the European Enterprise Awards, which Scarborough went on to win earlier this year after winning the UK competition in 2008.

For more information about the Enterprising Britain competition and further details on how to enter, please visit www.makeyourmark.org.uk/enterprisingbritain